Common Exit Interview Questions

It’s around that time when you have finally managed to submit your resignation & start serving your notice period. You’re all set to make it through the last few working days in your present company, bid adieu to your peers, and move on to greener pastures following your career aspirations. You have just begun to feel confident that the most difficult part of the process of quitting an reorganisation is over when you receive that mail/call from HR asking for a suitable time for your exit interview.

Exit interviews come across as little nerve wracking for everyone. As if quitting was job was not enough of stress to handle when you have another meeting lined up, where you are expected to provide the nitty-gritty details of why you planned to quit! That’s where you probably hit the panic button.

Your exit interview need not be an anxiety inducing experience. In fact, this interview can actually be a productive one both for you as well as for your employer. You just need to ensure that you are aware of what you are up for. After all, it is understandable that every individual wants to leave on a professional note. Nobody would want to leave feeling that it was an impromptu ‘why I hate this job’ session.

This article attempts to provide a list of commonly asked exit interview questions to help you prepare for your exit interview.

1. Why did you plan to leave this position?

This is one of the most likely questions that your employer wants you to answer during your exit interview. There are a couple of reasons this question is asked. Firstly, your company wants to understand if a particular event triggered your resignation. These assumed events may be either a falling out with your colleague or your manager/supervisor. Secondly, your employer wants to figure out if there are any shortcomings in the present position so that it can be rectified before hiring a replacement. Every organisation is focused towards employee retention. Hence your feedback is critical to help them achieve this objective.

2. Did we provide the right level of support tp help you perform your job well?

Every organisation wishes to gather some insight as to how supported employees felt, on the job. You may feel a little awkward to vent out your grievances about the lack of training, a completely uncommunicative team, or lack of process. You must remember you need to be honest, as it will help your employer to improve. There is no reason for you to hesitate as the HR department is well aware that you are leaving for a reason and everything wasn’t as expected. Like all feedback, ensure it doesn’t come out in a raw and brutal manner.

3. How was your rapport with your manager?

HR is keen to learn about your relationship with your manager as the organisation wants to know the whole story, good, bad, and the ugly. You should be honest, as this is a necessary feedback that HR needs to know. You can also provide some suggestions for your manager in the areas where he or she needs to improve. Avoid getting too personal. Keep in mind, it’s highly likely your feedback/ will be conveyed to your manager. So if you are not feeling too confident, you can play safe and keep it constructive.

4. What was that one factor which made you accept a new offer?

To answer this question, you need not share all sorts of details about your new position that you are moving to. However, you should be prepared to answer similar questions about your new offer. The objective of asking this question is that the company wants to know how it is faring compared to its competitors in the industry. For instance, your new organisation is offering you a better salary; your employer may want to re-evaluate its salary structure. So, it is imperative that you share such information to help your employer to be on track with its competitors while hiring new or lateral talent.

5. What is that one thing which you liked the most in this job?

While the main objective of exit interviews is to gather constructive feedback, it does not mean that you do not have any opportunity to highlight any positive aspects. You may be asked about aspects such as your role, your team members, happy weekly hours, work from home option, or flexi timing that you may have liked the most. This information will help communicate, continue working towards these positives.

6. What is that one thing which you disliked about your job?

This question needs you to provide honest feedback. It is understandable that not all of your pointers can be sugar coated which is fine. This is your moment to share those pain points which you had to go through and did not get an opportunity to vent out.

7. What skills and qualifications do you recommend for your replacement?

This question is asked with the intention that your employer wants to know the qualities that they should look for in the next candidate to replace you. Who can offer a better insight into the job which you did day in. day out. For instance, your original job description stated that it needed you to be great with customer experience. However, at the job you figured out that you rarely had any true customer facing activities. So,  offer your honest inputs that may be this position needs a candidate with strong multi-tasking and organisational skills. If you share such useful insights, your employer will appreciate it, and hopefully, make a change.

So basically there is nothing to stress over an exit interview. You should consider it as your opportunity to have an honest and valuable discussion regarding the position that you are quitting. If you still feel stressed about it, you should just ask yourself what is the worst thing that can happen. They won’t be able to fire you!